This car used to belong to a friend of mine, but failed a WOF on a couple of minorthings and he knee jerk reacted and took rash actions to deregister it (expensiveto make road legal again with new plates) and bought a new car.

I got a text message asking me if I wanted any parts off it and recalled another matehaving one with broken rear window. Then I realised it had the 1.8 litre 7A-FE enginethat can be used to make a higher capacity 20v engine for the KP and the plot wasborn to take it from him in whole and part it out between us at the mate's place. I"owed" him 50 bucks, so I paid 150 and he paid 50 and we went and picked it up.

Then I was thinking about the 4WD that it had and realised it would make a good bushwhacking car so I don't have to abuse my Stagea in amongst the trees to climb my hill.

My mate took the rear hatch and right rear light from it and tried to take some engineparts, too, but they didn't fit his vehicle with 4A-GE in it. Which left the back of it openand wet and not very secure. Not ideal for lonely weeks in the bush without supervision.

It sat at his place for a couple of months before and after he took the parts and is stillthere now.

1) Install new tailgate that I picked up from zebra for 80 bucks and fit broken light from mate's car2) Attempt to add tow bars to it

Ended up doing:

1) Fitted new hatch to it, minus wiring which is different plug wise2) Fitted broken tail light from my mate's car back in place, looking good enough3) Pried the left front guard out so the door didn't hit it while opening4) Adjusted the bonnet and lubed the hinges and latch for one-man opening5) Installed the new used battery that I got from zebra for 45 bucks6) Warmed up the engine and took it for a drive noting some hesitance at various RPMs7) Cleaned threads for the front tow bar setup and greased them and selected three bolts to hold it on8) Failed to drill and install the tow bar receptacle box/tube because I couldn't find the pattern piece

Earlier in the day I bought the parts from zebra and cut the box section to length after having measuredit the evening before when I went over to fix the car trailer and pick it up for a WOF on Saturday morning.

Today I went back with the pattern piece (left it at home yesterday, doh) and all the other gear, and some fresh oil to throw in it.

Got the following done:

1) Checked filter part number2) Went and bought filter and bottle of flush3) Cleaned PCV valve, and oil filler cap4) Added 0.5l of fresh oil and warmed up with a drive around the block (less hesistance!)5) Added flush and half a can of degreaser to the engine and ran at 1500 RPM for 10 minutes6) Drained old oil and flush/degreaser blend and blew out crank case7) Cleaned dip stick and tube and removed filter and cleaned filter housing8) Reinstalled bung with mercedes copper washer and new bigger filter with a bit of oil on the oring9) Filled up with quality semi synthetic mineral oil to 1cm over full mark with 4.5l10) Fired it up with fresh oil and ran it up to temperature and took it for another drive11) Drilled and fitted the box section to the engine member with 3 bolts12) Drilled the box for the locking pin/bolt and test fitted the tow bar insert13) Removed rear sway bar for greater articulation and more traction (my first off-road centric mod!)

It's big enough to pull the future 3.5 tonne (3500kg) tiny house up the 30 degree slope even if attached to a 2.5 tonne tow vehicleIt's big enough to operate at higher than recommended duty pulling the Carib and another metric tonne up the same hill

30 degrees makes for 50% of mass in linear force on the ropes and winch.

Carib is about 1250kg or so, maximum load with trailer mass would be about the same, so maybe 2500 total mass, 1250kg linear pull.

It's a bit too nice for a bush hack/utility vehicle, but that's what it is, nonetheless.Once deregistered here, it's too expensive to reregister and not worth the coin.About 800nzd to put back on the road and the whole car is only worth maybe1500 plus the bushings/ball joints/rack ends would have needed doing, too.

Found it low on coolant, but not very. Found the radiator cap was pretty grubby, tried to clean, crumbled. Found a fresher 1.1bar job in the garage this evening, will fit before I run it next.

Fitted the rear tow bar.Scraped the stickers off the windows.Cleaned out the spare tyre well.Measured up for the winch mounting cradle.Recorded mileage for giggles - it won't be covering many kms from now on.

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